A mixing and blending of forces resulted in the opening of a relocated River Rock Inn at 210 Second St. Milford, in Milford on April 9 under a combination of new and old management.

After being closed for 60 days for renovations, River Rock reopened with the collaborative efforts of current owner Ken Pisciotta and previous property owners, Janice Halstead and Carl Muhlhauser, who ran Laurel Villa there until 2011. Pisciotta and Muhlhauser will man the kitchen, while Halstead runs the dining room and 10 hotel rooms.

"It was a difficult winter," said Pisciotta. "As I was struggling to get by, I was cooking and running the place, because I couldn't afford to have someone in the dining room."

Pisciotta bought the Second Street property in 2011 from Janice Halstead and Carl Muhlhauser when he noticed his original River Rock, on routes 6 and 209, was being prepped for demolition by the landlady, as trees were cleared and the yard was filled with dirt. Apparently, she had a grand plan to build a movie theater, which never happened but it was enough for Pisciotta to leave and take his culinary talents elsewhere

"I had known Carl and Janice for a while, in the small fraternity of restaurant owners in town," said Pisciotta. They originally met at Chefs Do Dinner, a benefit for the Center for the Developmentally Disabled.

"Carl approached me. He said, 'Buy my place and I'll hold the mortgage.' I felt like I won the lottery. It's a great place."

On a tidy, tree-lined Milford street, it looks like a large quaint old house. Now, as the veteran restaurant couple return to help out, Pisciotta says, "What's not to gain? Carl and I are both Culinary Institute grads, and his family's been in the restaurant business his entire life."

In addition to being newly painted in earth tones, with refurbished woodwork and new carpeting, River Rock offers a slightly altered menu, which will change every two months, just like in its previous life, says Pisciotta. Their offerings will include "lighter fare" and half portions, as well as monthly wine tastings and Wednesday night specialty burgers, such as bison, salmon, veggie and turkey.

"They'll all be self-ground, homemade. I don't open packages," says Pisciotta. Which is his prevailing rule. "I start from scratch, fresh, even with French fries, soups, salad dressings and desserts. I use fresh herbs, not dried."

Speaking of which, he recalled another pivotal culinary encounter, chatting at his bar with Jolie DeFeis, founder of the environmental nonprofit Air Soil Water.

"She asked, 'If you could get local food, would you use it?' I said yes, and she said, 'We're having trouble getting a public space.' I said, 'Do it in my back yard.'"

A trial run last fall of Air Soil Water's Farm to Table Festival will become a weekly farmers' market beginning in May.

"The space is huge and just two blocks from the center of town," says DeFeis. "It's perfect to hold between 20 and 25 vendors. In addition to fresh produce, we hope to have organic meat purveyors, cheese makers and bakeries."

At the fall festival, Pisciotta made hamburgers with organic beef from nearby Flatbrook Farms.

"You can't get closer than three miles away," he says of the beef farmer.

Meanwhile, Pisciotta looks forward to being back in the kitchen.

"I like the controlled chaos when cooking gets really busy," he says. "You can eat off that."